(Newser)
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The parents of US college student Otto Warmbier filed a wrongful death lawsuit against North Korea on Thursday, saying its government "brutally tortured and murdered" their son, the Washington Post and the AP report. Fred and Cindy Warmbier filed the lawsuit in the US District Court in Washington, DC, seeking compensation for the death of the 22-year-old, whose plight had compounded tense US-North Korean relations. Otto Warmbier, who was a student at University of Virginia, was arrested by North Korean authorities in January 2016 for stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor. He died in June 2017, days after he was repatriated to the US with severe brain damage. "Otto was taken hostage, kept as a prisoner for political purposes, used as a pawn and singled out for exceptionally harsh and brutal treatment by Kim Jong Un," Fred Warmbier said in a statement.

"Kim and his regime have portrayed themselves as innocent, while they intentionally destroyed our son's life. This lawsuit is another step in holding North Korea accountable for its barbaric treatment of Otto and our family," he said. The lawsuit says that when Warmbier returned, his parents "were stunned to see his condition. Otto was blind and deaf. He had a shaved head, a feeding tube coming out of his nose, was jerking violently and howling, and was completely unresponsive to any of their efforts to comfort him." His once straight teeth were misaligned and he had an unexplained, scarred wound on his left foot. While the lawsuit may prove largely symbolic given the difficulty of recovering any damages the court might order, it comes at a delicate time in relations between Washington and Pyongyang. President Donald Trump is planning an unprecedented summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks.

'Your honor, the plaintiffs will show that the defendant, DPRK willfully, and intentionally allowed Otto Warmbier to enter and reside in their nation. Further, defendants reckless displayed certain personal property in a manner that allowed the deceased to wrongfully and illegally take, damage and convert to his own use said property. This being a crime in DPRK, the defendants knowing full well that this could lead to arrest, conviction and incarceration took no action to change said law, to repeal it or to prevent enforcement of it resulting in the deceased ceasing to de. We therefore ask the court to award the plaintiffs great heaping gobs of money so learned counsel, to wit, this petitioner gets paid. Thank you and whack his pee pee if the court pleases.'